Cris Olson, Brody Baker headline all-area boys basketball team in Lafayette area

Coaches' vote, clear message

The Journal & Courier’s big schools all-area boys basketball team is a coaches’ vote from Greater Lafayette’s Class 3A and 4A programs, and the ballot reads like a map of where the area’s power lives. Senior scoring, efficient shooting and guard play carried the loudest weight, which tells you the region’s best teams are still being built from the perimeter in.

Cris Olson kept Lafayette Jeff organized

Cris Olson was the kind of senior guard coaches trust because he did more than pile up points. He led Lafayette Jeff at 15.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, and his best nights included 28 against Benton Central, 22 and 17 in two wins over West Lafayette and 27 in the Logansport win that put him back in the conversation as one of the area’s most reliable creators. The easiest way to read his season is this: Mark Barnhizer did not just have a scorer, he had the steady hand that ran the Bronchos’ offense.

Brody Baker made the transfer rule matter immediately

The surprise inclusion, if you want one, is Brody Baker only because he changed uniforms and still jumped straight to the front of the line. Baker transferred from McCutcheon to Harrison in June 2025 after the new IHSAA rule allowed one transfer for students with six semesters or fewer without sit-out time, and his father, James, confirmed the move. At McCutcheon he was already a first-team all-area sophomore at 20.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists with 52 percent shooting overall and 53 percent from three, and he brought that same edge to Harrison with 19 points per game, 48 percent from the field and 48 percent from deep.

Baker's biggest nights came against the best

This was not a good-stats-on-paper transfer story. Baker put up 31 and hit the game-winning three in McCutcheon’s IU Health Hoops Classic win over West Lafayette, then dropped 27 against Luke Ertel-led Mt. Vernon and closed Harrison’s sectional title game against Kokomo with 30 points, 11-of-19 shooting and four steals. That is the part coaches remember: he did it in games with pressure, stakes and names people around Indiana know.

Ben Werth turned West Lafayette into a spacing problem

Ben Werth has become one of those players you notice twice, once because of the numbers and again because of the way they change a defense. He finished at 16.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and he is already West Lafayette’s all-time three-point shooting leader and second all-time scorer. That pedigree was not built on empty volume either, because he had a 31-point night against Central Catholic with 7-of-10 shooting from three, a reminder that he can punish a defense before it gets comfortable.

Drew Whitlock gave West Lafayette its playmaking edge

If Werth is the shot-maker, Drew Whitlock is the connector who makes the whole thing work. He averaged 12.1 points and 4.9 assists, finished second all-time in assists at West Lafayette and was already being recognized by the IBCA as an all-state and academic honorable-mention selection. The scouting report fits the box score: he can create off the dribble, hit fadeaways and defend like a guard who knows every possession can swing a playoff game.

Harrison's run is no longer a one-year spike

The bigger picture in this all-area vote is that Harrison is now building a real postseason identity, not just a hot streak. The Raiders won their first sectional title since 1999 in 2025, then repeated in 2026 with Baker leading the way in the 59-56 win over Kokomo. That is the difference between a good local team and a program that can keep showing up when the bracket gets serious.

West Lafayette keeps proving it belongs on larger stages

West Lafayette’s regional run matters for the same reason. The Red Devils reached the Class 3A regional title game in March 2026, and the pair of Werth and Whitlock gave them a backcourt that could score, pass and survive the kind of game that gets tighter every round. When a team gets that deep with two seniors who can both bend a defense, it stops being just a good area story and starts looking like a statewide problem.

The notable omission is the old standard

If there is a name missing from the current picture, it is Alonzo Clawson-Smith, and that absence says something about how fast the area has turned the page. Lafayette Jeff’s former centerpiece was the 2025 Journal & Courier Big Schools Player of the Year after a 22.5-point, 5.2-rebound, 3.8-assist, 3.5-steal season, the kind of line that sets the standard for everybody who comes after. Olson’s emergence does not erase that benchmark, but it does show that Lafayette Jeff has already moved into a new phase.

The rest of the ballot points to depth, not nostalgia

This was never a ceremony built to honor old reputations. Coaches selected 10 players from the area’s Class 3A and 4A schools, and the names that rose to the top were the ones tied to winning, to late-game shots and to seasons that stretched into March. Even without turning the team into a ranking, the message is obvious: Harrison, Lafayette Jeff and West Lafayette are the programs that still force the conversation in Greater Lafayette.

What this says about next season

The next wave in Lafayette-area big-school basketball is already visible, and it runs through guards who can score without wasting possessions. Olson’s control, Baker’s shot-making, Werth’s range and Whitlock’s playmaking give Harrison and West Lafayette the kind of backbone that can travel beyond the local race. If those cores stay intact, the area’s 3A and 4A powers will not just matter in Lafayette, they will keep mattering when the rest of Indiana starts paying closer attention.